Part 3 of the United Kingdom?s Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA 17) introduced two new corporate criminal offences of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. The offences, which came into effect on 30 September 2017, deal with the evasion of UK and foreign tax, respectively. This article describes the background to the introduction of two new corporate criminal offences, their operation, the scope/"reach" of the new laws, associated penalties and the available statutory defence.

According to the European ...

On 30 September 2017, the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 (the CFA) came into force, along with its newly-focused corporate criminal offences of failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion. Given the extraterritorial ramifications of the CFA, businesses in the UK and those with a UK nexus, especially those in the financial services and accountancy sectors, including branch offices, fiduciaries and trustees, promotors and managers of investment products, and wealth managers, will need to be astute to its challenges and effects, and take what H.M. Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has called a, 'risk-based and proportionate' approach to implementation of preventative procedures.

The U.K.'s new rules to criminalize corporate organizations that fail to prevent associated persons from facilitating tax evasion is expected to encourage "a more effective, risk-based and outcomes-focused approach". Taking effect 30 September 2017, the U.K. legislation has global implications and the consequences are rather severe - potentially resulting in an unlimited fine and criminal prosecution.

This book provides a critical and contemporary evaluation of the laws and enforcement policies pertaining to tax evasion in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US). Since the inception of taxes, revenue collection authorities around the world have attempted to address the seemingly perennial problem of individuals evading their tax liabilities. The financial crisis has shone a new light on the issue with an increased interest in using the criminal justice system as a means of addressing it in the UK. In sharp contrast to the UK, the US has a strong record of prosecuting crimes of tax evasion, whether committed by individuals or professional corporate facilitators. Providing an evaluation of the UK’s tax evasion laws and enforcement policy, through a comparative approach, this work highlights insights provided by the US experience. In so doing, the book explores the interconnections between tax evasion and money laundering, identifying best practices, omissions, and areas for reform. The work will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics, and policy-makers working in the areas of financial crime, financial law, accountancy and criminal justice.

Dated January 2017. A TSO version of a title previously published by HM Government made available under the Open Government Licence v3.0(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)